A Case Study of a Nineteenth-Century Southern Planter Family's Female Members' Participation in Consumer Culture through Decorative Textiles and Personal Dress Items

Abstract

<p>A qualitative case study examined two generations of women from a prominent Southern planter-class family in nineteenth-century Louisiana and their participation in consumer culture through decorative household textiles and personal dress items. A content analysis performed on the women's personal communications, succession records, and purchase receipts identified instances in which the women participated in the consumption of decorative household textiles and personal dress items. Using Kunz and Garner's (2011) clothing consumption process as a foundation for this study, a modified consumption process is suggested based on the identification of a "creation" stage that was not previously included in the five stages of Kunz and Garner's model. This study's results fill part of the void in American consumer culture history prior to the twentieth century and provide a better understanding of Southern planter-class females' consumption of decorative household textiles and personal dress items during the second half of the nineteenth century.</p>